Dress Accessories

As I have mentioned before, I have a wonderful group of women who test my dress patterns for me.  We have all become great friends - even though none of us have ever met.  We feed off of each others creativity and it makes it so much more fun! 

I am quite busy designing dresses and don't have time to design accessories that will compliment my dress patterns.  The women who test for me have a wide range of things they make, so they have started designing the accessories.

This is a hat made by Jonna from Frayed Knot that works well with my Ribbon & Lace Dress pattern. It is available for purchase here: Vintage-Vine Hat pattern

The Barefoot sandals were designed by Jennifer from  Little Luvies.  This pattern is not released yet, but I will let you know when it is.

Marcia from  Made by MTL has designed this hat to go with my Snap Dragon Dress.

 This pattern is available for purchase here: Snap Dragon Hat. I worked one up this morning to be sold with the dress shown above

 

It is a very quick and easy pattern to work.  The flower shown on this hat is a pattern I found from Bonita Patterns and is available here: Croco Flower

Last, but not least, the Miss Priss Baby Legs designed by Heidi from Heidi's Hook

These little leggings are darling with this dress!  The pattern for these can be found here: Miss Priss Baby Legs

I LOVE how everything comes together and there are more in the works :) 

Welcome to JUNE 2012.  I hope it is a wonderful month for you all!

Kate

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Princess Britt Infant pattern

It's ready!  The Princess Britt Infant pattern is now available for instant download on Craftsy:
http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/Clothing/Princess-Britt-Infant-Dress/17512

The toddler sizes are still being tested and I should be able to release that pattern this weekend.  I have some photos to share of that size, but need some time to load and edit them. 

I have also been asked to write up some child sizes and I will be doing that shortly also. 

If you ever have any ideas you would like to see, please let me know.  I would love to hear what you are interested in and love a challenge every once in a while.

I hope your week has started off great!

Kate

Princess Britt

Have you ever worked with Mesh yarn?  I dind't know anything about it except that others have made some very cute scarves with it until a week ago.  A friend of mine saw a dress on Etsy that she really wanted me to make for her baby that is due this summer.  It is a very pretty tube dress using mesh yarn as the skirt.  I purchased the pattern - not realizing she had already purchased it also (and she doesn't crochet) so that I could make one for her.  Upon reading the required materials, we began our search for the mesh yarn - and Oh Boy - it's not cheap!  I checked all the local stores and even asked sales associates about it and none had heard of it. 

She didn't want to spend the money ordering it online and also paying shipping (I wouldn't have either). So I decided to try and come up with my own version using just the Caron Simply Soft yarn....This is my end result:

It is in the testing phase and I have seen a few photos of it on babies and I LOVE it!  It is so stinkin cute :)

Then, later that week, I stopped by Joann's craft store to see if by chance they had some mesh yarn.  To my delight, they had 1 box and only 1 box (I asked) of Red Heart Sashay and there were only 5 skeins left.  They are $5 each and there was only blue or teal to choose from.  Not having used it before, I didn't want to stock up on it if I didn't end up liking it so I bought 1 of each color (should have bought them all!)  I came home and was excited to give it a try on my own pattern and here is the end result for that:

Both versions will be included in the "Princess Britt" pattern.  The Straps are written up as optional for Newborn size, but will be needed for infants/Toddlers who are mobile.  I will release the infant pattern which will include 5 sizes: Newborn - 12mo and then the Toddler Pattern which will be 18mo-4T.  I am debating on even larger sizes...It would be extremely easy to work out, but I will wait for feedback from my fans before I decide.

Heidi from Heidi's Hook https://www.facebook.com/HeidisHook?ref=ts was one of the testers for the NB size and has written up a pattern for leggings to match :)  They are darling and I can't wait to see it all together on a baby. 
This pattern will be available in the next week or so and I will post a link when it's up and running.

I hope the weather for your Holiday weekend is full of sunshine - Have a wonderful holiday and travel safely my friends!

Kate

Pinwheel Applique

It is a very rainy day her in Utah!  Luckily - I love the rain :)  I hope you are all off to a great start for the weekend.

I have released the pattern for the Pinwheel Applique that I added to the Toddler Oh Snap dress. 

Pinwheel Applique Pattern

Pinwheel Applique

Size G hook

Gauge: 8DC & 4 Rows = 2”

Materials: Small amount of WW yarn

Center: Ch 8 & Sl St into 1^st Ch to form a ring

Ch 1, make 16 SC in ring, Sl St in Ch 1 to connect

Petal 1: Ch 13, Dc in 4^th Ch from hook, 

            2DC in next 4 Ch Sp,

            DC in next 5 Ch Sp, 

            SK 1 SC of ring, Sl St in next SC

Petal 2: Ch 10, Sl St in 8^th DC from 
             ring of previous petal,
            Ch 3, DC in 1^st Ch Sp from Sl St just made,

            2DC in next 4 Ch Sp, Dc in next 5 Ch Sp, 
            Sk 1 SC in ring, Sl St in next SC

Petal 3-8: Repeat Petal 2

Petal 9: Ch 10, Sl st into 8^th DC from 
            ring of previous petal, 

            Ch 3, DC in 1^st Ch Sp, 
            2DC in next 2 Ch Sp,

            DC in next Ch Sp, 
            Sl St in bottom of Ch 3 of 1^st petal,
            DC in same Ch Sp, 
            2DC in next Ch Sp, 
            DC in next 5 Ch Sp

            Sl St in final SC of Ring, Fasten off & weave in ends

Center:

            With 2^nd color, Sl St 1^st skipped SC of ring

            Ch 1, SC, Ch 3, 3DC in same Stitch

            *SC in next Skipped SC of ring

            Ch 3, 3 DC in same stitch* Repeat 7x

            Sl stitch in beginning Ch 1.  

            Fasten off and weave in ends

Purple Pinwheel Applique

I had fun making it and adding it to the dresses.  I had the pattern tested to make sure others could understand it.  The purple one was made by Jennifer from  https://www.facebook.com/LittleLuvies?ref=ts on facebook.   She is using it on a bag she is making.  I would love to see how you use it. 
Kate

Oh Snap Toddler Dress

#3 Release in the Mama Mia May event is the Oh Snap Toddler pattern.  It will be available as an instant download on Craftsy on sale for $3 for 1 week and then will be moved to $5.  During this time, the Oh Snap Infant pattern will also be on sale for $2. 
Here is the link to the pattern
http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/Clothing/Oh-Snap-Toddler-Dress/15353?fresh=true

I finished the dress today and I still think it needs a ribbon around the waist, but I don't have a good color to match it right now. 

And remember that you can still get 25% off everything in my Etsy shop through the month of May by using code MamaMiaMay.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day weekend.
Kate

Toddler Ribbon & Lace

#2 Release in the Mama Mia May is the Ribbon and Lace Toddler dress patterns.  It includes instructions for 4 sizes: 18mo, 2T, 3T, 4T along with directions for 2 different styles.  The regular looks more like the infant dresses where the skirt pattern is long.  The Drop Waist Dress has a longer body and shorter skirt.  The dresses you have seen my girls wearing in photos is of the Drop Waist.  The purple dress shown here is also the Drop Waist style.

The Toddler pattern is only available on Craftsy right now for instant download. It is on sale for $3 for 1 week and then will go to $5. 
http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/Clothing/Toddler-Ribbon--Lace-Dress/14762



To celebrate the release of the toddler pattern, you can also get the Infant Ribbon and Lace pattern on craftsy for 1/2 price right now ($2). http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/Clothing/Ribbon--Lace-Baby-Dress/7317

Mama Mia May

I am finally able to start releasing my toddler dress patterns.  I will be celebrating (hopefully) 1,000 fans on my FaceBook page this month https://www.facebook.com/pages/Crafting-Friends/180595232008676?ref=tn_tnmn  and have a fun multi-vendor giveaway going on. 

With Mothers Day coming soon, I wanted to do something fun.  So...EVERYTHING in my Etsy shop will be 25% off if you use code MamaMiaMay at check out.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftingFriends4you

To start the release of the toddler patterns, I will be adding them to the Craftsy website individually at a sale price of $3 for 1 week.  After that, they will be $5 each.  As soon as they are all released, I will have them available in a pattern pack for $18.

The Snap Dragon dress pattern was released today and you can get it for instant download here: http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/Clothing/Snap-Dragon-Toddler-Dress/14257

As I was trying to finish this dress today in order to have a  photo for the pattern, this is what I started with

I liked it, but wasn't sure on the flower placement.

Taylee LOVEs it!

I still need to put the buttons on the back, but I felt like it was missing something. So....I remembered I had some pink ribbon and gave it a shot.

And now I just need to do the buttons and she will be able to wear it to church :)  My friend Julie was awesome and made the girls some slips to use with these dresses.   http://sewinsanity.blogspot.com/

This is so fun!  The girls have even started requesting new colors for dresses - not sure I would be able to keep up with them, but it's great to see them wear something I have made :)

I would love to hear ideas of things you would like to see here, or on my other pages.  Please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think.
Kate





Saturday/Sunday SALE

I have been a slacker lately and have not posted my deals here on the blog.  A while ago, I decided that I need to start having a daily focus on my Facebook page and one for the weekends, I chose to have 1 pattern on sale.  It has been crazy busy with all of the giveaways I have been part of and now holding my own for 1000 fans :)

Today, I have been trying to get everything tagged and ready to go for the Craft Fair I will be participating in tomorrow.  Since I won't be around much, I set up my sale to start today.  If you have not purchased it yet, you can get the instant download of the Diamonds Infant Dress Pattern in my Craftsy shop for 1/2 price ($2) this weekend only.
http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/Clothing/Diamond-Infant-Dress/4277

For those of you who are waiting for the Toddler sizes, I hope to be able to start releasing them next weekend. 

Wishing you all a wonerful and warm weekend!
Kate

Behind the Scenes of Designing

I thought I would share with you what it looks like while trying to create a pattern in 4 different sizes.

 The Bright Blue and Bright green tops are infant size from creating the Infant pattern pack.  I cant decide how I want to finish them, but they have taken a back seat while I work on the toddler patterns.

The Bright Pink and White top and the Teal and White top are both ideas I would like to get written up, but also took a back seat to the toddler patterns. 

The 4 Larger tops are for the Basic Toddler patterns.  I have the tops set and work up several rows of each of the 6 skirt pattern and send it out to the testers.  Then I get to finish them :) 

This has been a wonderful adventure!  I have had so many customers send pictures of the dresses they have made using my patterns and quite a few of them surprised they could even make a dress - but that was the point of the Basic Patterns.  I want even beginners to feel accomplished in making something other than a scarf or hat :)

The toddler patterns should be complete within the next few weeks and will be released for sale on Craftsy and Etsy.  I look forward to designing some more intermediated patterns and adding other Items to my pattern list.  I found some patterns for baby sandals and baby barefoot sandals, but even after gauging, they are to large for newborns, so I may be up for designing some myself.

Thank you for following this blog and please feel free to leave comments or suggestions.  I love to hear feedback from all of you :)

I'm gonna make it work - or balls of yarn may be flying through the air

As I began my adventure in designing baby dresses, I intended on only making newborn size.  I quickly learne that - though that size is great - Everyone wants a variety of sizes to go with each option.  Jumping to the task at hand, I was able to create instructions for 4 sizes ranging from newborn - 12 months.  4 testers, 6 patterns in 4 sizes plus the 4 dresses I made to work with the testers was actually smooth sailing in order to release my first pattern pack of dresses.

On to the next task - Toddler sizes for the same 6 patterns.  Luckily the sizing of the infant dresses was an easy fix.  If it had not been, I may have stopped there!  Honestly - The toddler sizing has KICKED MY BUTT!!!  I should have taken pictures of the tragedies I came up with. (really, the dresses didn't look bad, but the sizing was just not right)  I would work 8 rows of the pattern to find out that it was to wide or not wide enough and have to start over...not once, not twice, but at Least a dozen times.  Grrrr! 

Alas, I think my trials for the toddler dresses are coming to a close :)  I have made the tops to an 18mo, 2T, 3T, & 4T.  Now, to work on the instructions for the 6 different skirt options and get it all out to the fantastic ladies who test for me. 

Once the toddler patterns are released, I will hopefully be able to figure out instructions for 1 more size to the Emerald City dress (which has not been released yet).  I have also had requests for different sizing of the Angelique dress - That will be an interesting task, but I shall give it a try.

I also have an option for the butterfly pattern on the arms.  I can't decide if I should type it up and offer it as a freebie option for those who have purchased the basic patterns, or if I should create a new skirt and release it as a new dress.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

Have a safe and relaxing weekend and if you can, take a minute and notice all the beautiful flowers that are popping up everywhere and the birds chirping :)